Can eating sugary foods make you sweat?

Whenever I eat a lot of sugary foods I feel like I start sweating. Maybe there is no connection but it seems to happen every time I drink a lot of soda or eat a bunch of candy. What does it mean if sugary stuff makes me sweat?

Answer

I can think of two potential reasons that you may have noticed an associated between ingesting sugary foods and sweating. The first is related to something known as the thermic effect of food. Basically, what this means is that the digestion of food in your body requires input of energy on your body's part (it is "work"), which raised the body temperature and leads to sweating. If you are ingesting a significant volume of food or amount of calories, this effect could be pronounced.
The other possibility, which seems much less likely, is something called reactive hypoglycemia. In some individuals, when their blood sugar rises significantly, this leads to a spike in insulin secretion in the blood stream, which then drives the blood sugar very low. A low blood sugar can lead to sweating, dizziness, blurry vision, and fatigue, among other symptoms. This effect would happen some minutes after the meal, not while you were still eating.
I suggest that you talk about this issue with your primary care doctor. They will be able to examine you and help figure out whether or not this is something you need to worry about. Also, they can give you some suggestions about foods that might be more healthy for you than these sugary ones!

This answer is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.

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